Car-door opener.



J. W. CARVER.

OAR DOOR OPENER.

APFLIGATION FILED MAY 14, 1913. 1,083,800,

Patented Jan 6, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESS/:"8 Q

BY w' mmf@ ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co..wAsulNGToN. D. c.

J. W. CARVER.

CAR DOOR OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1913.

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Patented .121116, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS J. W. CARVER.

CAR DOOR OPENER.

QPLIQATION FILED MAY 14, 1913.

1,083,800, A Patented Ja11.6, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESS/58 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo c.

nivrrnn srnlns PATENT onirica.

JOHN W. CARVER, OF HAY SPRINGS, NEBRASKA.

CAR-DOOR OPENER.

To all t0/wm t may concern Be it known that l, JOHN W. CARVER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hay Springs, in the county of Sheridan and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Car-Door Opener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription.

rlhis invention relates to an apparatus adapted to be installed on grain or box cars for affording convenient means for opening and closing the slide door for such cars.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of apparatus of this character so as to be reliable and efficient in use, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and install and of durable and substantial design.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a stationary frame applied to the body of the box car and including a track along which moves a carriage that is operatively connected with the door, said carriage being moved step by step in one direction by a novel mechanism to open the door and in the opposite direction to close the door.

With these objects in View, and others as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

ln the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and wherein similar reference characters are employed to designateA corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a. side View of a portion of a box car showing the door opening and closing apparatus with the door in closed posi tion; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the door in open position; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 1 is a similar section on the line 1 4- of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a side view of the ratchet mechanism with one of its operating pawls set for moving the door closed; Fig. 6 is a sectional View showing the other operating pawl set to move the door open; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the operating lever; Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is a sectional View on the line 9-9 of Fig. 2; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the bracket Specification of Letters latent.

Application nled May 14, 1913.

Patented J an. (i, 1914. Serial No. 767,533.

to which the outer end of the carriage track or rail is secured; and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the pit'man and the means for mounting the same on the car door.

Referring to the drawing, A designates the body of, a car door which has an opening B that is closed by a door C which has hangers or other suitable means D whereby the door is supported from an overhead track or rail 1. The foregoing parts are of ordinary construction and the door opening mechanism is so designed as to be used as an attachment for ordinary box cars without requiring any alteration in the design thereof.

rlhe opening and closing apparatus com prises a frame E which consists of a vertically disposed bridge member 2 in the form of a bar which has base portions 3 and 4 at its upper and lower ends whereby the bridge member can be fastened to the body of the car at a point above and below the door opening. The base portions 3 and el, as shown in Fig. 4, extend laterally from the body of the car such a distance that the bridge member 2 will be spaced from the side of the car body to enable the door C to slide under the bridge member in opening and closing. Extending horizontally from the bridge member 2 is a rail or track 5 which projects from one side of the door opening B toward the end of the car at the same side of such opening, and this rail 5 is somewhat longer than the width of the door C, the outer end of the track or rail 5 being secured to an L-shaped bracket 6 which has a base plate 7 bolted to the side of the car body and has lugs 8 or equivalent means to which the end of the track 5 is secured by a rivet or bolt 9. Thus the frame E is a rigid structure carried wholly by the car body and has no direct connection whatever with the car door C.

rllhc movable structure of the car door opening means comprises a slide or carriage F which is a U-shaped structure to straddle the track 5 from underneath, and on this carriage is a dow Vardly-extending lug l0 to which is pivoted at l1 an operating lever 12 which is provided with bifurcations 13 and 111 which straddle the carriage from underneath. The upper ends of the bifurcations are bent laterally into extensions 15 and are connected by a pivot 16 with the extremity 17 of the pitman or connecting rod 18 which extends horizontally across the door C from one end and terminates at the center of tie door where it is connected by a pivot 19 with a suitable mounting 2O secured to the car door. As shown in Fig. 7, a reinforcing member 21 is applied to the ogerating lever 12 which is connected at its upper end to the lever by the pivot boltI 16 and at its lower end by the pivot bolt 11. The patman 18 passes through a guide 23 of the car door between one edge thereof and the mounting 20.

@n the carriage F are pawls 24 and 25 which are mounted between the sides 26@L of the carriage and one pawl is adapted to engage the top surface of the track 5 to move the door in on-e direction while the other pawl is adapted to engage the track to move the door in the opposite direction. The pawls or dogs 2li and 25 are mounted respectively on pivots 2G and 27 disposed symmetrically at opposite sides of the vertical center of the carriage, and each pawl has a serrated portion 2S that is adapted to engage the track rEhe distance between the upper edge of the track 5 and the pivotal center of each pawl and the dist-ance of the serrated portion of the pawl from its pivotal center are such that a wedging or gripping action is produced between the pawl and track when the pawl-carrying carriage F is moved in one direction, while movement of the carriage in the opposite direction serves to release the pawl. Un each pawl is a laterally-projecting linger or stop 29 in the form of a bolt which is screwed into the pawl, and this bolt is adapted to enter slots 30 in the side members of the carriage and engage the bottoms of the slots to support the pawl in inoperative position, as indicated by the left pawl in Fig. 5 and the right pawl in Fig. 5. When the pawls are in operative position the bolts 29 enter slots 31 but the bolts do not strike the bottoms of these slots because the serrated portions of the pawl engage the upper surface of the track 5, the slots 31 being provided simply to allow the pawls to have the prescribed range of movement. The heads 32 of the bolts or stops 29 project from one side of the carriage, as shown in Fig. S, and the bifurcation 14 of the operating lever 12 is odset at 33.

1n operating the device let it be assumed that the door is in closed position, as shown in Fig. 1, and the operating lever 12 is in central pendent position, the carriage being at the left end of the rail or track The lower or handle end of the lever is then thrown to the left so as to move the upper end of the lever to the right. 1n doing this the carriage F is maintained stationary by the right pawl 25 engaging the track 5, as shown in Fig. 5. rEhe car door C is consequently moved to the right one step to the dotted line position c. The lever 12 is then oscillated in the opposite direction, which has the edect of releasing the pawl 25 from the track and of shifting the carriage F to the right, the lever swinging on the pivotal connection 1G as a center, and during this movement the door C is stationary. The next step is to move the handle of the lever again to the left, whereby the pawl 25 grips the track or rail 5 and causes the door to move another step, and in this manner the door is moved step by step to open position, as shown in Fig. 2. To move the door closed the pawl 2st is thrown into operative position and the pawl 2.3 to inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 6, and then the lever 12 is oscillated, so that with each stroke to the right the door will be moved one step toward closed position. 1t. will be noted that the pulling or pushing power is applied to the door at the center thereof so that the door will slide open or closed without binding. Furthermore, as the power or handle arm of the lever is considerably longer than the weight arm the door can be moved open or closed with comparative ease. During the time the lever moves the door a step in one direction or the other it is a first class lever, the fulcrum being at 11 and the weight being the car door C, but when the lever moves while the door is stationary the lever acts as a second class lever, the fulcrum being the point 16 and the weight the carriage F.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the method of operation and of the apparatus shown will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while 1 have described the apparatus which l now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, l desire to have it understood that the apparat-us shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. 1n a door opening apparatus, the combination of a oar body having an opening a door therefor, a track rigidly secured to tie car body, and a ratchet device operatively connected with the door and engageable with the track to move the door step by step to open and closed position, said device being carried by and slidable on the track.

2. En a door opening mechanism, the combination of a body having an opening and a slidable door therefor, with a track secured to the body and extending parallel with the line of movement of the door, a ratchet device movable step by step on and carried by the track, and a connection between the ratchet device and door.

3. ln a door operating mechanism, the

combination of a body having an opening and a slidable door for the opening, with a track frame comprising a vertically disposed bridge member secured to the body at one edge of the opening and provided with a rail extending laterally from the bridge member in a direction away from the opening, a device movable along and engageable with the track, and a connection between the device and door.

t. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a body having an opening and a slidable door for the opening, wit-h a track frame comprising a vertically disposed bridge member secured to the body at one edge of the openincr and provided with a rail extending laterally from the bridge member in a direction away from the opening, a device movable along and engageable with the track, said device including a lever, and a pitman pivotally connected with the door and with the said lever.

5. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a body having an opening and a Slidable door therefor, with a track frame comprising a bridge member secured to the body at one side of the opening thereof and under which the door moves, and a track secured to the bridge member and ex tending laterally therefrom in a direction away from the door opening, means for securing the outer end of the track to the said body, a carriage movable on the track, a lever fulcrumed on the carriage, ratchet pawls mounted on the carriage, one being operatively related to the track while the other is in inoperative position and a connection between the lever and the door.

6. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a body having an opening and a door for the opening, with a track secured to the said body at one side of the opening thereof, a carriage slidable on the track, a lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the carriage, a pitman pivotally connected with the center of the door and extending laterally therefrom, a pivotal connection between the lever and pitman, and means on the carriage for automatically gripping the track when the lever is moved in one direction to hold the carriage stationary while the door is moved, said means being automatically disengaged from the track as the lever moves in the opposite direction to permit the carriage to move while the door is stationary.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. CARVER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES VESTON, WV. M. WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

